Birthday Suprises
by fortheloveofcamelot
Summary: It's Merlin's birthday! Not that he would remember... And there are some suprises in store that no one would expect.


**Hello! It's just Catherine today, with a one shot I wrote in honour of Colin Morgan's birthday. Well, that's a lie, I told my writing buds that I gave him the gift of my awesomeness, and well... things escalated and headed into a bit of a contest. **

**So this is set post season 3, but doesn't have any spoilers, it's just set then... because it is. **

**Hope you like, really I do, because usually my buds check these over for me before I upload, and well, I sent the e-mail about 5 minutes ago and haven't given them the chance to reply. So I sincerely -cross my fingers, touch wood, do that little Pirates of the Carribean 'Black Spot' dance- hope you like it. **

**Enjoy!**

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The day started off as any other.

Merlin woke, squinting his eyes against the sunlight pouring into his face. Sunlight. He was late again.

Jumping out of his small bed, Merlin raced frantically around the room, changing into his usual clothes, while in the meantime trying to desperately think up and excuse to explain to what would most likely be a very disgruntled prince.

To be honest, Merlin wondered to himself why he still found waking up late a shock; it was a near daily occurrence. Arthur had all but given up on waking up to find his breakfast waiting for him, or maybe once finding his chambers had been cleaned. In fact, Merlin was pretty sure that the Prince didn't even listen to whatever excuse Merlin had made for the day, which was a shame, he realised, because some of them were pretty entertaining.

Stumbling down the steps into Gaius's chambers, Merlin gave a weak half smile at his Uncle, standing over by the small table the two of them used for eating. In his hand was a small plate, on which a chunk of bread and a few pale slices of cheese innocently sat.

"Eat something before you go, Merlin. Arthur will have to wait a few minutes."

"A few more minutes, you mean." Merlin grumbled, "It's not like Arthur can't dress himself, last time I checked he did have opposable thumbs."

Merlin took the food out of Gaius's hands, and turned to leave.

"Merlin…?"

The boy turned back when he reached the doorway, a small grin on his face.

"What?"

Gaius frowned, reaching for a package lying on the table. "You've forgotten, haven't you?"

"Forgotten what?" Merlin grinned, moving back into the confines of Gaius's chambers.

His Uncle paused, and frowned at the boy before him. Merlin never ceased to amaze him; for a short moment in time the boy could almost appear… wise. But the rest of the time… well, he was so far from knowledgeable he wouldn't spot it with a telescope. "The date, Merlin. You do know what day it is, don't you?"

Merlin looked at the floor for a second, lost in thought, before suddenly slapping a hand to his forehead and laughing. "Of course, how could I forget?"

Gaius chuckled at his nephew, and held out the gift. "Happy –"

"-New Year!" Merlin concluded enthusiastically, holding his hands out wide. "I mean, how could I forget, you should have seen the feast last night, old Lady Balatine was so drunk she started jumping on the table and –"

"Happy Birthday, Merlin!" Gaius eventually cut in desperately.

Merlin, froze, and stared in confusion at his Uncle. After a few seconds however, he raised his eyebrows and took a deep breath out. "My birthday? Oh yeah…"

"You don't seem very excited," Gaius noted.

"Birthday's were never really a big deal at home," Merlin explained, fiddling absent-mindedly with the table edge, "And with running around after Arthur every single minute of the day, especially with the New Year's feast, I guess I just kind of forgot."

"Oh," Gaius paused, eyebrows raised, "Well I assume you won't be wanting any presents then, my apologies," he stated, removing the present from sight, and watching with a barely concealed smile as Merlin's eyes followed the package.

"Wait, hold on," Merlin exclaimed, "It doesn't mean I don't want any presents!"

"But you just said birthdays were not very important in Ealdor."

"Well," Merlin grinned slyly, "_here _we could make them a little more important."

Gaius laughed and moved away, "Sorry Merlin, the moment has passed."

"But you were just about to hand it to me!" Merlin cried as he followed his Uncle through the room.

"There is not enough time now, I didn't plan on you forgetting your own birthday." Gaius shook his head with an amused expression at the sight of Merlin's disappointment. "Go and see Arthur, you can have your present when you get back."

Merlin grinned and rushed to the door. "I will be back before you can say abra kedabra!" He called, but faltered at the look of a passing guard in the corridor. "On second thoughts, maybe that is a bad choice of words. I will be back… as soon as Arthur is happily hacking knights – but considering the amount he had to drink last night, it could be a while before he is up and running."

Merlin gave an over-theatrical sigh and hurried down the corridor, he quiet mumbling of, "work, work, work…" echoing after him. Gaius laughed.

* * *

Merlin made it to Arthur's chambers a lot later than he had originally planned, largely due to the fact that he had ran into Gwen (almost literally) and she had stopped to make conversation. Gwen had also successfully embarrassed him by presenting him with a small gift – a soft new blue neckerchief. It seemed that Gaius had been eager to spread the word.

Proudly wearing his new garment, and with Arthur's breakfast balanced precariously in one hand, Merlin was struck with a sudden, terrifying thought.

If Gaius knew of his birthday, and he had told Gwen, then maybe someone had told…. No, Arthur wouldn't care. It doesn't matter. They wouldn't have told him anyway. They wouldn't have dared.

He opened the door quietly and hesitantly, and took a look inside. Everything seemed normal, and he spotted Arthur sat on the edge of his bed, already dressed, pulling on his boots.

_Really, Merlin, what did you expect?_ He chided himself as he went through the doorway. _A banner and a cake?_

"Ah, Merlin. You are here at last," Arthur claimed as he stood up and walked over.

Merlin squinted at the Prince. "And you're dressed."

"How observant of you, Merlin." Arthur said sarcastically as Merlin shuffled the plate onto the table, before stepping back to let Arthur sit down. However, the Prince simply stood there, and for a moment they both stared at each other, neither moving.

"Are you waiting for permission to sit down?" Merlin asked perplexedly, looking slowly between the plate and Arthur.

"That can wait a minute." Arthur stated, and walked over to his desk. "Can you please close the door?"

Merlin didn't move for a moment, struck dumb by Arthur's sudden… niceness. "Did you just say _please_?"

The Prince sighed, and looked up from the cabinet he had been searching in. "Yes, I did, but now I am not. Close the door, you idiot."

Merlin stumbled slightly as he made his way over to the door, before hastily pulling it shut. He turned back to face Arthur, his forehead furrowed in a frown. "What's going on?"

Arthur paused, and then slowly handed his servant a large, heavy wrapped object. If Merlin didn't know Arthur any better, he would have said the Prince looked nervous.

Merlin continued to frown at Arthur, before suddenly realising what he was now holding. "Wait a second, what is this?"

Arthur let out yet another exasperated sigh, and crossed his arms. "Really, Merlin, you can't be that stupid. Happy Birthday."

"You knew? You got me a present? Arthur…" Merlin moaned, trying to push the parcel back. However, after glancing at Arthur's disapproving expression, Merlin hesitantly looked down at the gift. "Do you want me to open this?"

"No, Merlin, I want you to use it for target practise," Arthur scorned, "Of course I want you to open it."

Merlin snuck a glare at the Prince before quickly pulling the rough cloth of the present. There was a moment of silence as they both stared at the gift.

"You… got me a… book." Merlin stated rather tentatively. "Emm, thanks."

Arthur said nothing, but waved his hand in a motion for Merlin to open it.

And Merlin had never been more confused in his life. What on Earth was going on? He slowly ran his hand over the cover, looking at the dark brown leather binding, before flipping to the first page.

His heart suddenly jumped to his throat as he looked at the writing. Without daring to look up at the Prince, he flicked from page to page, panic and confusion on his face.

_This was a spell book. _

"Arthur…" Merlin stammered, no idea on what to say. He raised his eyes eventually to meet Arthur's, only to find the Prince looking at him carefully, trying to read his expression.

"Do you not like it?" Arthur stated, looking from Merlin's face to the book. "I thought it would be useful…"

"Arthur..." Merlin tried again. "Do you know what this is?"

The Prince frowned at Merlin, giving him that special '_are you stupid?' _look. "It's a spell book." He pointed out, as if Merlin were asking the most obvious thing in the world.

Merlin didn't know what to say, he was terrified, and felt his hands shaking. His heart was beating loudly in his chest, and all his instincts were screaming at him to get out of the situation. _Get out of here._

"Wait, do you already have this one?" Arthur queried, pointing quizzically at the book.

"What… I don't…. How do…" Merlin muttered desperately, wanting nothing more than to drop the book in front of him and run for the hills.

"Merlin, seriously, what's wrong with you? I thought you would have been happy, you have no idea how hard it was to find this."

"But…."

"Why are you acting like a startled stoat?" Arthur frowned, scrutinising Merlin carefully. "I thought magic was your big thing, because you sure as hell can't handle a sword."

Merlin tried to push the huge lump in his throat, and muster the courage to speak. "How did you find out?" He whispered.

"How did I find out what?"

Merlin paused, and studied the floor. "About me," he eventually mumbled.

Arthur chuckled and shook his head, moving away to the table to eat. "I do believe I have told you all this before."

"What?" Merlin blurted out dumbly, "when?"

Arthur plopped himself down in the chair, a large chunk of cheese wedged in his mouth. "Wait," he said, holding up a finger, lost in thought. "Oh," he exclaimed off handily, "maybe I didn't tell you."

Merlin staggered over to the table and stared at Arthur accusingly. "You knew?" He almost shouted.

Arthur took a moment to study a piece of bread carefully before shrugging and popping it in his mouth. "Of course I knew. This bread seems different"

Merlin shook his head as if trying to make it work properly. "Cook had to change grain stock. What do you mean, of course you knew?"

"Oh, I have known for ages," he said nonchalantly, completely unaware of Merlin's disbelief. "Here you should have some of this," Arthur passed the plate to Merlin's side of the table, "it's great."

Merlin took a deep calming breath and very slowly placed the book on the table. "How long, exactly have you known?"

Arthur stopped half way though studying his nails and narrowed his eyes. "The good part of a year."

"You have known," Merlin began in a quietly dangerous tone, "for almost a _year_, and you never told me?"

The Prince suddenly sensed Merlin's menacing voice and looked up, grinning and holding his hands out. "Look, in my defence, I _thought_ I had told you." Still smiling, Arthur waited for Merlin to laugh. But his servant's face stayed extremely stony. "Merlin, what's wrong? It's not that –"

Suddenly, Merlin picked up the pieces of food from the plate and began hurling them at the Prince's head. "Ouch! Merlin! What are you doing?" Arthur cried as he scrabbled from his seat.

"You – complete – prat – Arthur – Pendragon!" Merlin shouted, all the while pelting Arthur's half eaten breakfast. Suddenly he spotted Arthur's grin from behind his hand. "You think all this was funny?" He screeched, and glanced around wildly for something else to throw.

"Wow," Arthur, yelped, hastily rushing over to grab his knife from the table. "I will just keep this over here, okay. We call a truce?"

Merlin laughed in disbelief. "There is no way I am calling a truce! I can't believe you find this amusing…"

"Well, I could have you executed for being a sorcerer."

"A truce sounds like a great idea."

"That's what I thought." Arthur grinned.

Merlin sighed and put both hands on the table, breathing deeply. This was the moment he had worried about for years, yet only to discover Arthur had known all along. It was just too much to take in. He slowly reached one hand out and slid the book back towards him, trailing his fingers over the cover.

"Do you like it?" Arthur appeared suddenly over his shoulder, looking down at the book.

Merlin snorted slightly and turned the pages. "Yes, I do. Thank you, Arthur."

"My pleasure," Arthur said, sitting down again. "But you do realise you will have to get me an equally amazing gift when the time comes?"

Softly laughing, Merlin nodded and looked at his friend. "Are you sure you are okay with this? With me?" He asked seriously.

Arthur smiled, "I've had a year to think about it, Merlin, and yes, I am okay with it. I was simply waiting for you to muster up the courage to tell me." There was a moment of silence, in which they were both lost in their own thoughts. _It's strange_, Merlin thought, _how so much can change in just a few minutes._

"Come on, Merlin," Arthur suddenly exclaimed. "If you can actually get me ready for training before night-time, you can have the rest of the day off."

Merlin grinned as Arthur clapped him on the shoulder as they made their way out the door.

"Hey, Arthur?" Merlin asked, one last question niggling in the back of his mind. "Can I ask you something?"

"What now, Merlin?" The Prince replied.

"How did you find out about me?" Merlin queried.

"Oh, Gwen told me."

"WHAT?"

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**And FINITE! Thank you for reading this! I hope you like it! Please feel free to review and well, cookies are out the question because I am greedy. **

**Oh, and Happy New Year to all! I hope you all had a good night last night, partays and all. I was working... but it was great fun nonetheless! Good fun, and I get paid. BOOYAH! **


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